MOBILE, Ala. -- Former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark hit the campaign trail with fellow Democrat Ron Sparks today, saying that the Alabama Agriculture Commissioner is the right man to be the state’s next governor.

“Ron Sparks is better experienced and better equipped than anybody I know in this state and certainly better than anyone in this race to be your next governor,” Clark said at a news conference with Sparks in Mobile, one of a series of stops in a statewide fly-around. “He’s ready to take this state forward.”

Sparks, 57, of Fort Payne, faces Republican nominee Robert Bentley in the Nov. 2 general election.

Sparks said he was honored to have the support of Clark, a decorated U.S. Army veteran who retired in 2000 as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. He used Wednesday’s tour to promote his plan to create a state lottery that would help fund education.

“I am the only candidate that supports a lottery. I can’t put it any simpler,” Sparks said. “If you want to start sending our kids to college on scholarships and expand pre-K, vote for me.”

Bentley, 67, a retired dermatologist and state legislator from Tuscaloosa, has said he does not support a lottery.

Clark, a native of Little Rock, Ark., sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2004. Sparks is one of about a dozen candidates to receive his endorsement in the current election cycle.

Clark participated in a swearing-in ceremony for Sparks in 2007, following his re-election as Ag commissioner.

The two politicians appeared together at news conferences in Montgomery, Dothan, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. They were greeted by about 30 campaign supporters at the Downtown Air Center in Mobile.

Sparks will pick up another high-profile endorsement Thursday in Birmingham. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear at a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser for Sparks at the Summit Club.